Tag: constitution

ConstitutionDAO Fails to Win the U.S. Constitution Copy on Sotheby’s Auction, after Raising Crowdfund $47M

On Thursday, the decentralised autonomous organisation ConstitutionDAO lost ownership by failing to win the bid for the printed copy of the U.S. Constitution at a Sotheby’s public auction. The Lot finally sold for $43.2 million by an autonomous bidder.

The unique U.S. Constitution at this auction is the first edition printed copy of one of the 13 remaining constitutions copies.

Prior to the Sotheby’s public auction, the ConstitutionDAO community, a decentralised autonomous organisation, raised more than $40 million in Ethereum in a week through the discord social platform. Precisely, the organisation has raised a total of $47 million worth of Ether from more than 17,000 Ethereum wallets. The organisation claimed they “broke records for the most money crowdfunded in less than 72 hours.”

source: ConstitutionDAO

However, ConstitutionDAO failed to win the Lot and stopped the pace of additional funding when an unidentified bidder won the Lot with an estimated $41 million.

According to an organiser in the Discord server of the organisation, the main reason for losing the bid is that the organisation do not have enough capital to pay for the “proper maintenance and upkeep” required to keep the constitution.

In the official Discord announcement, a leader of the organisation, Julian Weisser, pointed out that although this is not the result they hope, this is “we still made history tonight with ConstitutionDAO. This is the largest crowdfund for a physical object that we are aware of — crypto or fiat.”

DAO is known as the digital decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO). The DAO served as a form of investor-directed venture capital fund that seeks to provide the enterprise with new decentralised business models built on the Ethereum blockchain.

This auction is the best example of the first crypto community to demonstrate its purchasing power in the real world. Although it was unsuccessful, it also allowed more people to see the potential of cryptocurrency in real life.

FTX.US crypto exchange President Brett Harrison expressed his thoughts on this auction:

“I think seeing how powerful a DAO can become in a real-world transaction such as this, I think will show people that there’s a lot of potentials that people have only dreamed of for these kinds of organizations to be a model for future governance. “

At present, there is no specific plan on how the funds will be used or returned, possibly could be used as the funding for future auctions. DAO is managed by smart contracts that exist on the blockchain to execute agreements with no centralised authority automatically. 

Image source: Yahoo.finance

Hedge Fund Billionaire Ken Griffins Manages to Outbid for Copy of US Constitution

Ken Griffin, the founder and CEO of hedge fund company Citadel LLC, acquired a first-edition copy of the US Constitution at a Sotheby’s auction house on November 18.

The billionaire investor paid $43.2 million to secure the document, beating an outbidded group of crypto investors- ConstitutionDAO who also had the same interest of acquiring the extremely rare first-run printing.

Griffin, who is also an art collector, plans to loan the piece to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark, a free museum founded by Philanthropist and Walmart heiress Alice Walton.

Citadel confirmed that Griffin made the winning bid that beat out thousands of crypto investors who worked together to secure the document at Sotheby’s auction.

Sotheby’s stated that the sale set a world auction record for any manuscript, book, historical document, or printed text, as the amount was more than double its $20 million high estimates.

Meanwhile, Griffin talked about the development and said: “The U.S. Constitution is a sacred document that enshrines the rights of every American and all those who aspire to be. That is why I intend to ensure that this copy of our Constitution will be available for all Americans and visitors to view and appreciate in our museums and other public spaces.”

The document was in private hands in the past, having last auctioned in 1988 for $165,000 by Dorothy Tapper Goldman’s late husband, S. Howard Goldman.

Griffin’s triumph over the group was interesting because he has been a vocal sceptic of the use and value of crypto assets.  

Crypto Crowdfunding Fell Short

As reported by Blockchain.News, the auction drew widespread attention last week because of an attempt by the crypto coalition “ConstitutionDAO” to crowdfund a winning bid.

“ConstitutionDAO,” a group of more than 17,000 crypto investors, popularly as recognized as pulled together more than $40 million worth of Ether via a decentralized autonomous organization – a kind of computer protocol –earlier last week in a bid to win the auction.

The crypto group planned to seek a partner to publicly display the document (the printing of the constitution).

The group clarified based on frequently asked questions that the funds would be redeemable (providing anyone with an option for a refund) minus a transaction fee.

Since the group has lost the bid, it is now upon them to decide what will happen to all the cash they raised. However, some members shared plans to potentially allocate the funds towards future auctions.

Unlike an ordinary pool of investors, DAOs rely on crypto technology to track and validate participation in the group and to facilitate the inner workings of how to raise and distribute large amounts of cash.

Image source: CNBC

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